Thoughts on Beacon — About a month ago, we released a new feature called Beacon to try to help people share information with their friends about things they do on the web. We've made a lot of mistakes building this feature, but we've made even more with how we've handled them.

Zuckerberg Lives, Is Sorry For Beacon — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has finally come out from hiding after the two-week privacy donnybrook that ensued over the company's marketing program Beacon. Zuckerberg posted his response on the Facebook blog. In short, he's sorry.

Mark Zuckerberg on Beacon: We Made Mistakes — Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, after taking it on the chin for nearly two weeks, is apologizing about the company's Beacon advertising platform fiasco. In his blog post, in which he explains his side of the story and rationalizes his reasoning …

AN OPEN LETTER TO SAM SETHI — Please Note: This is an open letter to Sam Sethi, Founder and CEO of Blognation. I have elected to write this letter after having been one of the principal Blognation authors since August of this year. In all that time I have not received the pay promised …

Google Pre-Launches New iPhone Interface — We heard a rumor that Google was going to launch a new interface for users accessing the site via an iPhone in the next few days. But an anonymous tip let us know it actually launched without any warning or announcement this evening.

Postal Rate Change to Wallop Netflix, Help BBI? (NFLX) — Another reason for Netflix (NFLX) to hurry up and transition to a purely digital model: A potential postal rate change could cut the company's operating income per subscriber by two-thirds, say Citi analysts Mark Mahaney and Tony Wible.

Cellphone could be boarding pass, too — Continental Airlines passengers in Houston will be able to board flights using just a cellphone or personal-digital assistant instead of a regular boarding pass in a three-month test program launched Tuesday at Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Nielsen to Be Video Cop — For years, media and technology companies have been ensnarled in a battle over the rights to video posted online. Now ratings giant Nielsen wants to be the policeman. — Nielsen is rolling out a new service that aims to ensure that video is distributed and viewed …

Marc Orchant Updates and Information — This page is dedicated to providing information and updates concerning the status of my good friend and colleague, Marc Orchant. — As you know, Marc suffered a massive cardiac infarction on Sunday morning, December 2nd 2007. My original post is copied below.

Inside the "Ron Paul" Spam Botnet — On the weekend of October 27, 2007, the Internet was suddenly bombarded with a rash of spam emails promoting U.S. presidential candidate Ron Paul. The spam run continued until Tuesday, October 30, when it stopped as suddenly as it began.

Gmail messaging boost adds AIM to Google Talk — AOL's instant messenger now plays nicely with Google's — The popular Gmail service from Google is clearly a work in progress - it still carries the 'beta' tag after all - but that's mainly because it keeps getting better, rather than that it isn't finished.

Flickr + Picnik = Web Photo Editing Made Easy — It was a craaaaazy night on the town. You took dozens of photos with your pocket-sized digital camera. But you don't have Photoshop, and all you want to do is upload your pics directly to Flickr (something you could even do wirelessly …

Apple Wants To Make DRM Extortion Explicit — For years, DRM critics have been arguing that the technology isn't so much about stopping piracy as it is about taking away traditional fair use privileges and then selling them back to you. I've agreed with this for a while …

Navigators Everywhere, Especially on Holiday Gift Lists — JUDGING from the holiday-season popularity of G.P.S. navigators, there are few gestures more satisfying than telling the person you love, "You have no sense of direction, but don't worry — modern technology can help."

Sprint XOHM Will Soft Launch "In A Few Days" — Sprint Nextel will soft launch its XOHM WiMax network in the next few days according to Bin Shen, VP of Product Management and Partnership Development. Chicago, Washington DC and Baltimore will all go live at soft launch …

Google AdWords Improves Target By Location Feature With Maps — I got a tip from Scott Edwards that Google has quietly improved the "target customers by location" feature in the AdWords console. You can see old screen captures of the multi-step process at the Search Engine Roundtable, but the new method is much more intuitive.